Sky-High Wi-Fi

If you think you've heard every reason to get a wi-fi-equipped laptop, here's a new one: broadband Internet access on airplanes. This April, Lufthansa will begin offering the wireless broadband service Connexion by Boeing on selected transatlantic flights.

Other airlines are quickly moving to provide similar features. Both Scandinavian Airlines System and Japan Airlines will have in-flight broadband by the end of the year.

With Connexion, the whole plane becomes a wi-fi "hot spot," linking users to the Internet via a network of satellites  without getting in the way of the airplane's...